Kalamazoo deputies find ‘small IED’ near Climax Twp. lake

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Improvised explosive device, courtesy photo.

CLIMAX TOWNSHIP, Mich. – It was quite a scary moment for one couple in Kalamazoo County after they say a neighbor found a bomb and brought it over to their house not realizing how dangerous it was. Thankfully the Kalamazoo Public Safety Bomb Squad disabled it and no one was hurt.

The Kalamazoo County Sheriff’s Office says they received a report of a suspicious item found near La Ferre Lake in Climax Township. After closer inspection it turned out to be an improvised explosive device.

On Thursday, FOX 17 spoke with the man who called 911 after his neighbor found the bomb. He says she was walking her dog on the beach at La Ferre Lake and found the item leaning up against a tree. She didn’t know what it was so she put it under her arm, walked it home and left it on his trashcan. He knew what it was and called the police.

It has been a relatively quiet 18 years at Jerry Trumble’s home on La Ferre Lake in Climax Township. That ended on Friday.

“My neighbor was walking her dog, found this item on the shore over there at the public landing, brought it over here, laid it on my trashcan and forgot about it,” said Trumble.

Trumble went outside and saw the item and knew right away what it was.

“About an hour later I went down and said ‘Linda, what’s this stuff on my trashcan?’, and she said she found it at the beach and brought it over here. I said, ‘Well it looks like a bomb to me’.”

That’s when Trumble called 911. Police came as well as the Kalamazoo Public Safety Bomb Squad to disable it. Trumble and his wife went to dinner and the officers were still there when they got back a few hours later.

“When we came back, the bomb squad was still here,” said Trumble. “The cops had disassembled it and I thought maybe I could’ve done it by myself.”

Trumble says he’s not upset that his neighbor left the bomb on his trashcan.

“I did pick on her a little bit, said Trumble. “I was doing work for her all day. I cleaned out a beaver dam on her property and here she is trying to blow me up.”

From the sight of it, Trumble thinks it was homemade.

“There were electric wires running out of it and a nine volt battery taped to the bottom,” said Trumble. “I couldn’t see the battery, but you could see the tape around the whole thing and there was a bulge on the bottom where the nine volt battery was. There were wires running to it and they were about eight feet long so I knew what it was. That’s when I called 911.”

Despite police not having any suspects at this point, Trumble says he’s not worried.